Heather Alleyne's family cannot bury her on time

The family of a murdered mother says it will be unable to say proper goodbyes today after failing to get custody of Heather Alleyne's body.

By Norman Miller/Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Norman Miller/Daily News staff

Posted Aug. 20, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 20, 2010 at 8:04 PM

By Norman Miller/Daily News staff

Posted Aug. 20, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 20, 2010 at 8:04 PM

FRAMINGHAM

» Social News

The family of a murdered mother says it will be unable to say proper goodbyes today after failing to get custody of Heather Alleyne's body.

Jessica Marcheterre said the state medical examiner could not release her stepsister's body because the family could not get the necessary paperwork. That means they cannot bury her today as planned.

"Wasn't the murder of my sister enough?" Marcheterre asked. "There's no possible way to have any closure at this point."

Authorities allege that Heather Alleyne, 19, was murdered Aug. 4 in her Framingham apartment by her husband, Kyle Alleyne, 25.

Kyle Alleyne is being held without bail at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge. He is still considered the next of kin and is the one who can take custody of the body. He can sign a release form to allow the Marcheterre family, including Heather Alleyne's mother, Ginny, to take custody of the body, but he hasn't done so yet.

Marcheterre said the funeral director at the Wadsworth-Chiappini Funeral Home in Framingham, which is handling the arrangements, said if the family could get signatures from those who have custody of Heather Alleyne's two children, that could be used in lieu of Kyle Alleyne's release.

The family immediately got the signature from Heather's youngest daughter's paternal grandmother on Wednesday. Yesterday, they got the release signed by Kyle Alleyne's mother, Portia Alleyne. She is caring for the couple's other daughter, Karla.

The funeral director came to the Cambridge court, got the paperwork and headed to the medical examiner's office with the signed release, but that office told him he could not have the body, Marcheterre said.

The family still plans on having the funeral today at the funeral home at 11 a.m., but there will not be a burial. She said it's possible, if there are any late developments, that they could have Alleyne's body there in a closed casket.

The law needs to be changed, Marcheterre said. She said it should not be that difficult for a family to get custody of a body if a spouse is charged with the victim's murder.

"My next step is to try to start a petition," she said. "I'm going to figure it out, and I'm going to be banging down doors in the governor's office in Boston. This is going to happen to someone else."

Heather Alleyne's family got other bad news yesterday. Marcheterre asked a family court judge to give her custody of Karla, but the judge ruled that the baby will remain with Kyle Alleyne's mother, Portia.

Page 2 of 2 - "That's pretty heartbreaking," Marcheterre said. "The child has been with Portia for a little over a week, and they don't want to disrupt the baby's life."

The family has been granted two hours a week of supervised visits with Karla.

Marcheterre said Portia Alleyne seems like a nice woman, but the family still would like to have permanent custody of the 14-month-old and will continue to fight in court for it.

"It's going to be a battle, and it's going to be unfortunate," Marcheterre said. "This is not over. We're going to fight until we can't fight any more."